March 27
The Great Park Slope Food Co-op Hummus Debate
Look, this is a neighborhood that can be torn asunder by things like calling a child’s blue hat a “boy’s hat” instead of just “a hat.” So of course it’s going to be a big deal when the local Food Co-op tackles an issue as fraught as whether or not to continue to carry Israeli-made hummus. Tensions ran high, but, in the end, the hummus—and other Israeli products—stayed.
April 15
Girls Debuts on HBO
Remember those innocent times before the Internet was one big repository of Lena Dunham think-pieces? Neither do we. But it was apparently before April 15 of 2012.
June 28
McCarren Pool Reopens as… A POOL
28 years after closing as a swimming pool, McCarren reopens and is promptly pooped in. Well, at least, that was what the media spent all summer talking about: floating feces, fistfights, etc. Basically, the pool’s reopening had some fraught moments, but the real takeaway by the end of the summer was that a neighborhood in dire need of a community pool finally got one.
July
Duckweed Invades!
The lake in Prospect Park turned a vibrant shade of green this summer due to an invasion of the harmless aquatic plant duckweed and the harmful aquatic plant azolla caroliniana. It probably happened because of global warming, so that’s something to think about!
August 28
Assemblyman Vito Lopez Steps Down as Brooklyn Democratic Leader
Incredibly corrupt sleazeball Lopez steps down from his powerful post as Brooklyn Democratic Leader in the face of multiple accusations of sexual harassment.
September 28
Jay Z Opens the Barclays Center
After years of borough-wide debate and protest, the Barclays Center finally opens its doors and kicks off with a week-long
Jay Z residency. Sadly, there was no appearance by Biggie in hologram form. Oh, well.
October 15
Brooklyn Gets a Home Team
The Nets play their first game at the Barclays Center. Thousands of Knicks fans switch allegiances! Or, you know, not.
October 29
Hurricane Sandy Strikes
When Superstorm Sandy hit New York City in the fall of 2012, it wrought untold destruction on the city, its residents, and its infrastructure. Rising flood waters ravaged the Brooklyn coastal neighborhoods with areas like Red Hook, DUMBO, Coney Island, and Gerritsen Beach disproportionately affected. Millions of people citywide were left without power for days. Flooded subway tunnels would lead to catastrophic damage for our public transportation system; repairs are still being done in 2015 due to damage caused by this storm. Trees were uprooted. Homes were destroyed. People lost their lives. And yet, more than ever, New Yorkers banded together to help out those in need, with countless people coming together—many under the aegis of Occupy Sandy, an offshoot of the Occupy Wall Street movement—to repair damaged areas and give aid where necessary.
November 4
The New York City Marathon Is Canceled
Due to the devastating effects of Hurricane Sandy the previous week on all five boroughs of this city, the NYC Marathon was canceled, a move which made sense to basically everyone on earth, except the people who really, really, really wanted to beat their personal best. Priorities, people.
Openings
• The Wythe Hotel, Williamsburg
• Talde, Park Slope
• Pok Pok Ny, Columbia Street Waterfront District
• Bossa Nova Civic Club, Bushwick
Albums
• Our House on the Hill by The Babies
• Open Your Heart by The Men
• Shields by Grizzly Bear
• Swing Lo Magellan by Dirty Projectors
• Cancer for Cure by El-P
Books
• Beautiful Ruins, Jess Walter
• The Middlesteins, Jami Attenberg
• Flatscreen, Adam Wilson
Real Estate Notes
Average sale price for a home/condo
• Williamsburg, $737K
• Park Slope, $728K
• Brooklyn Heights,$794K
• DUMBO, $1.044M